249
votes
Accepted
Has the 9th Circuit Court been overturned 80% of the time?
Summary
It depends on your interpretation of the claim.
Were 80% of all 9th Circuit Court decisions overturned? NO, not even close.
Were 80% of the small minority of 9th Circuit Court decisions that ...
- 1,869
246
votes
Accepted
Is it illegal to own a rabbit in Queensland unless you're a magician?
From Queensland's Department of Agriculture and Fisheries brochure Can I have a pet rabbit?,
Why are pet rabbits illegal in Queensland?
Rabbits are Australia's most destructive agricultural ...
- 2,844
180
votes
Accepted
Did Amazon pay $0 in US taxes in 2018?
When Bernie Sanders claimed Amazon didn't pay federal income taxes in 2017, Snopes wrote a helpful article:
In regards to U.S. federal income taxes, the claim that Amazon paid none in 2017 is almost ...
- 30.2k
157
votes
Accepted
In Massachusetts, can someone be "arrested and fined up to fifty-thousand dollars" for reporting suspicious behavior in a women's bathroom?
The claim grossly misrepresents the details of the law
TL;DR $50,000 is the maximum amount someone could be liable for due to egregious and repeated discrimination on account of gender identity, and ...
- 2,401
155
votes
Accepted
Does the Constitution of Bhutan state that 60% of Bhutan must be forested?
The Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan, Article 5, paragraph 3:
The Government shall ensure that, in order to conserve the
country’s natural resources and to prevent degradation of the
...
- 9,295
153
votes
Are US workers legally required to pay income taxes?
The IRS has a section of their website, The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments dedicated to explaining the flaws of popular incorrect arguments of why taxes don't have to be paid.
Specifically, it ...
tim♦
- 51.4k
143
votes
Accepted
Was the Holocaust legal?
According to the Nazis' definition of "legal", it was.
According to the Führerprinzip in Nazi Germany, Hitler was above the law by definition. His directives were statutory orders, i.e. law -...
- 19k
126
votes
Accepted
Are there vaccine ingredients which may not be disclosed ("hidden", "trade secret", or similar)?
TL;DR: In the US and the EU, vaccine manufacturers are required to disclose all ingredients within the vaccine on vaccine packaging inserts available online alphabetically and European public ...
- 14.1k
121
votes
Was a Canadian father jailed for referring to his trans son as his daughter?
Reliable information about this case is hard to find because there is a publication ban on the family identity and on discussion of the child's gender change. However here is a reliable report which I ...
- 57.4k
113
votes
Accepted
Did Abner Schoenwetter spend 6.5 years in jail because he used plastic bags instead of cardboard boxes when importing lobsters from Honduras?
To summarize: Honduras has regulations about what lobsters can be fished (to prevent over-exploitation). The defendants knowingly broke these regulations and then tried to hide their illegal ...
- 30.2k
110
votes
Is there a death penalty if you jump off a building (and don't die) in New York?
No, New York does not have the death penalty.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center:
In 1995 newly-elected Governor George Pataki fulfilled a campaign promise and signed legislation ...
- 140k
109
votes
Was Paul Manafort exonerated for the crimes he’s now charged with?
No, that's chronologically impossible, because some of the alleged crimes were committed less than 8 years ago.
The charges against Manafort are specified in this indictment. Many of the charges ...
- 9,295
109
votes
Accepted
Was it ever illegal to name a pig "Napoleon" in France?
According to this article (French), there has never been such a law in French codes, but the rumor is persistent over time.
It seems that it all come from the censorship of George Orwell's Animal ...
- 1,701
95
votes
Accepted
Does New York City legally recognize 31 different genders?
I would like to present the same evidence as DavePhD's answer, but with a different summary of what it indicates.
In summary:
NYC recognises 3 genders on Birth Certificates (M, F, and X)
The number ...
- 8,079
94
votes
Accepted
Does saying "sorry" after an accident count as legal admission of fault?
I focused on the US for this answer. An apology does not automatically lead to the party being found guilty:
The apology may not be admissible in court (but the laws are complicated, as usual).
When ...
- 30.2k
94
votes
Accepted
Is Alberta ending coronavirus restrictions because of failing to provide evidence of SARS-COV2 virus existence in court?
Short version:
Mr. King is misrepresenting the words of a document he received in an ongoing court case against him. He misconstrues the document to mean there is no proof that the virus causing ...
- 5,088
92
votes
Accepted
Does Lebanon ban the diary of Anne Frank?
To prevent confusion, I will highlight the definition of the verb ban from Google:
officially or legally prohibit (something).
The Lebanese American University's libraries (largest libraries in ...
- 30.2k
90
votes
Accepted
Does Lincoln County, Oregon require only white people to wear masks?
Lincoln county has published this statement:
In this Directive there were several exceptions identified recognizing that not everyone could or should wear a face covering: ...
People of color who ...
- 2,147
89
votes
Can you have your lunch at your work-desk in France?
Yes, it is illegal for an employer to let an employee eat at their desk.
Article R4228-19
It is forbidden to allow workers to take their meals in the premises assigned to work.
It is the employer's ...
- 1,701
85
votes
Accepted
Will the 2019 EU Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market ban memes?
BBC's coverage explains how that might happen:
Jim Killock, executive director of the UK's Open Rights Group, told the BBC: "Article 13 will create a 'Robo-copyright' regime, where machines zap ...
- 57.1k
83
votes
Accepted
Did Hillary Clinton propose to punish flag burners in 2005?
The proposed law co-sponsored by Clinton in 2005 prohibits flag burning under specific circumstances. It does not attempt to make flag burning illegal in general (i.e. outside of those specific ...
- 10.2k
77
votes
Accepted
Is it illegal for regular US citizens to possess or read the Podesta emails published by WikiLeaks?
In current U.S. case law, it might be illegal to publish stolen documentary material, but prior case law rules it legal if the material is "of great public concern", which I think most media would ...
- 44.4k
77
votes
Is there a death penalty if you jump off a building (and don't die) in New York?
All laws related to attempted suicide in the State of New York were repealed before 1964. If the law had existed before then, it was never used.
Any laws against suicide that may have existed were ...
- 22.3k
73
votes
Has the 9th Circuit Court been overturned 80% of the time?
According to the American Bar Association article Supreme Court Reversal Rates:
Evaluating the Federal Courts of Appeals:
The reversal rates in Figure 2 range between 55% and
84%. Interestingly, this ...
- 104k
71
votes
Did 64,000 married Indian men take their own lives in 2012 after charges of domestic abuse?
It seems highly unlikely. The person making the claim claims there are about 64,000 suicides every year, "due to alleged misuse of section 498a of IPC against them."
He then goes on to quote the ...
- 9,668
69
votes
Does Lincoln County, Oregon require only white people to wear masks?
No, there is currently no such requirement or exception to that requirement. For one week the health guidelines related to masks in Lincoln County, OR included an exception for people of color who ...
- 11.4k
69
votes
Accepted
Will a proposed Canadian law allow minors to be euthanized without parental consent?
Currently Canada's euthanasia law does not permit the euthanasia of minors, with or without parental consent.
With the passing of Bill C-7 (taking effect March 2023) the criteria have been expanded to ...
- 57.4k
67
votes
Accepted
Did the 2nd Amendment limit the purchase of cannons from the day it was passed?
Did the 2nd Amendment really limit the purchase of cannons from the day it was passed?
No. The 2nd Amendment protects "the right of the people to keep and bear arms" and does not single out ...
- 14.1k
60
votes
Are US workers legally required to pay income taxes?
No it is not true. The Sixteenth Amendment was adopted in 1913, so taxes not apportioned to states are constitutional. US Code 26 Subtitle A is the relevant law.
The quoted text seems to allude to a ...
- 15.8k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible